Can personal travel planning shift mode choice and travel behaviour? Lessons from an employee programme for WWF South Africa

Abstract

This paper reports on a 16-week voluntary Travel Demand Management project for employees at World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) (Cape Town and Johannesburg), where employees were encouraged to shift from single occupant vehicles to more efficient modes, or to reduce the number of trips taken. WWF elected to refer to the concept as EcoMobility. Key purposes of the project were to influence individual travel decisions through an understanding of personal challenges and barriers to sustainable mobility shifts; to gather quantitative and qualitative data (emissions as well as challenges); and to provide evidence-based input into travel behaviour change policies and programmes nationally. The WWF EcoMobility project took a social marketing approach to planning and communication, and project principles were based on theories regarding stages of change. Participating employees were given the opportunity for individual or group ‘coaching’ sessions, and received information booklets and travel diaries, from October 2017 to January 2018.The diaries included questions about weekly travel goals, challenges experienced in trying to achieve the goal, and intentions for the week ahead. Travel diaries and emissions logs were analysed weekly, and a summary was returned to participants. Overall, participating WWF employees already do pay careful attention to the way in which they travel, but that for those who wished to further reduce their carbon impact, alternatives were limited. Without frequent and reliable public transport, as well as safe last-mile walking trips from public transport to work, private car use remains the most obvious option to those who can afford it (despite congestion and travel times). Personal safety, safe and affordable vehicle parking, and trip chaining were particular barriers to public transport use. Valuable insights were gained into the barriers to using lift-clubs and ride-share, and to employees’ attachments to their private vehicles. Institutional interventions, such as alternatives to parking subsidies at work, employee shuttles, bicycle-purchase schemes, working-hour car-pooling mechanisms, and walking-buses, are being explored, as these are the areas in which large employers are able to make the greatest contribution and impact.